Matt's Model Boats

USS Keokuk , which was designed by Charles W. Whitney, was an ironclad that was built in the second year of the American Civil War. Charles W. Whitney drew the plans for the iron-cased ram while Rear-admiral Joseph Smith, who was reviewing blue-prints on behalf of the Navy Department of the United States of America, approved the design. Smith, thereafter, awarded Whitney with a contract to built the fighting vessel. It was suggested, however, that expensive modifications should be made to the design of the ironclad. Service with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, at the time in which it was under the command of Rear-admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, lay on the horizon and the iron-cased ram proceeded towards South Carolina. Lieutenant-commander Alexander Colden Rhind, who would later be promoted to Commander, was appointed as the superior officer onboard the iron-plated warship. A number of ironclads, in the third year of the War of the Rebellion, were being sent to the South Atlant...

Torpedo-rams of the  David -class were cigar-boats that are believed to have been built in Charleston, Mobile, Savannah and Wilmington. War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, which is also known as the War of the Rebellion, led to the use of torpedoes for the defence of harbours as well as rivers. David Bushnell and Robert Fulton are often credited as the inventors of the torpedo, which could be defensive or offensive in nature, while Russia is believed to have been the first nation to deploy the explosive devices in combat. Torpedo-boats, however, were invented by the Confederate States Navy during the insurrection.  CSS David  and  CSS Saint Patrick , the latter of which is reputed to have been built at Selma, are two examples of torpedo-rams while  USS New Ironsides  is a notable victim of a torpedo-boat attack. Charleston was blockaded by the United States Navy during the American Civil War and it was h...

USS Stromboli , which was built during the penultimate year of the War of the Rebellion, was a torpedo-vessel that spent the majority of its wartime career on the James River. Chief Engineer William Willis Wiley Wood, who had served under Rear-admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory, helped to design the torpedo-ram while Assistant Engineer John L. Lay was the first officer to be placed in command of the fighting vessel. It was possible to raise or lower the depth of the torpedo-ram, in a similar manner to which a submarine boat descends beneath the water or rises to the surface, via the admission and expulsion of water from its ballast tanks. An upward curve, which followed the line of the keel, gave the deck of the torpedo-craft the appearance of a turtle-shell. Iron plates, which were two-inches in thickness, protected the deck from projectiles. A pilot-house, smoke-stack and ventilator could be observed above the line of the water. No weapons were installed above the waterline o...

CSS David  was a torpedo-vessel that was built, at the behest of Lieutenant William Thornton Glassell, for the Confederate States Navy by Theodore Stoney and Saint Julien Ravenel. Gun batteries, torpedo batteries and submarine obstructions were employed in the defense of Charleston Harbor by the government of the Confederate States of America. Charleston, which is situated in the State of South Carolina, was blockaded by the United States Navy and the harbour defences prevented the armed forces of the United States of America from attacking the city from the direction of the sea. Torpedo-vessels, such as CSS David , provided the Confederate States Navy with a means of conducting offensive actions against the Federal armada. USS New Ironsides , which was one of the few ironclads in the United States Navy that carried its armament in a broadside arrangement, was one of the most powerful vessels to be engaged in the blockade of Charleston. It has been asserted that  CSS David ...